§ 63. Mr. GILBERTasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport how many of the by-pass roads around the County of London which were commenced by grants of money from his Department in order to relieve unemployment have been completed; if any of them have still to be finished; how many men have been employed on the various jobs: and how much money has been granted by his Department towards the cost of the various roads?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of TRANSPORT (Mr. Neal)A section of the Western Avenue in Acton is the only one of the arterial road works in the metropolitan area which has actually been completed. Excluding the Great West Road, it is anticipated that all other sections representing complete contracts in themselves will be completed at various times 949 within the next 18 months. As the information in reply to the last two parts of my hon. Friend's questions contains a large number of figures, I will, with his
| ARTERIAL ROAD WORKS IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA. | |||
| — | Grant from Road Fund. | Number of men employed on 23–3–22. | Highest number employed. |
| £ | |||
| Shooter's Hill By-Pass | 93,100 | 51 | 335 |
| Western Avenue—Acton Section | 10,000 | Completed. | 100 |
| Hammersmith Section | 15,000 | 1 | 9 |
| Woodford—Ilford Road | 75,000 | 205 | 205 |
| South Circular Road—Woolwich Housing Scheme Section | 12,500 | 1 | 140 |
| East Ham and Barking By-Pass | 130,000 | 313 | 523 |
| Great West Road Extension | 73,000 | 34 | 36 |
| Great West Road | 698,690 | 264 | 281 |
| Croydon By-Pass | 121,000 | 60 | 150 |
| Eastern Avenue | 178,000 | 369 | 1,481 |
| Eltham By-Pass, including Kidbrook Park Extension. | 137,224 | 192 | 363 |
| New Cambridge Road | 254,000 | 245 | 529 |
| New Chertsey Road | 29,500 | 47 | 65 |
| North Circular Road | 306,000 | 450 | 712 |
| Sudbury Spur | 7,500 | 21 | 55 |
| Dartford—Erith Road | 1,000,000 | 133 | 188 |
| London—Southend Road | 2,080 | 2,080 | |
| London—Tilbury Road | 474 | 474 | |
| Watling Street (between Dartford and Strood) | 679 | 708 | |
| London—Dover Road (Dartford—Gravesend—Strood). | 873 | 943 | |
| London—Folkestone Road (Sidcup—Wrotham) | 762 | 762 |
§ 64. Mr. GILBERTasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport if he will state what progress has been made with the new roads in Kent and Essex, for which his Department gave a grant of £1,500,000 and the London County Council £500,000; whether any part of the roads has been commenced or completed; how many men have been employed on the work up till now, and how many men are still being employed; and if he can state approximately when the roads will be finished?
§ Mr. NEALWork has been commenced on the following arterial roads in Kent and Essex, towards the construction of which the London County Council have made a grant of £500,000:
- London-Southend Road (21 miles).
- London-Tilbury Road (11 miles, including by-passes at Rainham and Purfleet).
§ permission, circulate the details in tabular form in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the Table:
§ Watling Street (11½ miles between Dartford and Strood).
§ London-Dover Road (12½ miles between Dartford and Strood via Gravesend).
§ London-Folkestone Road (13½ miles between Sidcup and Wrotham).
§ It is anticipated that these works will take about 12 months to complete. Further details will be found in the table referred to in the reply to my hon. Friend's preceding question [above printed].